Hello! First time poster here!

All of a sudden, last night my shifter on my 2006 rx400h started to get very stiff. It is still stiff this morning and will not properly engage gears without me fiddling with it. I have seen a few posts about it on here, and did attempt to get a carwash and see if it was gunked up/frozen from all the snow and salt, but it still seems to be stiff/not engaging. I was going to attempt to lubricate my shifter linkage with some white lithium grease.. but I dont know where to locate the shift linkage under the car, or exactly what to try to lubricate. Does anyone have an exploded diagram or a good way of identifying the shift linkage and where I should be lubricating. I am hoping to prolong replacing the cable as I just purchased a house and was taken for everything I have

Thank you in advance!

Same difference:

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...#post-14565887

See if there are some youtube videos or photos somewhere re shift linkage. there has to be similar videos online.

very likekly your shifter cable is worn (needs replacing) but if you lube up the shift linkage it should fix your shifting issue-during-cold (make sure to lube it every oil change).

Any luck with this? I am having the exact same issue

I hope it is resolved by now. I remember experiencing this and I don't think I ever had any mechinic fix it. I believe i did park it in a warm garage and car wash. Best of luck!

2nd rx400h with this same issue - just got it fixed and working back to new in 5 mins. hopefully this thread will continue to help others.

lube up the shifter linkage right at bottom of the front bumper under the protective panel. it'll work as good as new & to keep it from acting up, continue to lube this area every time the car is up on a hoist (oil changes and/or any maintenance).

This issue is common when the cars are older / higher in milage ... but really shows up when the weather gets winter C O L D. But it is a VERY quick and easy fix.

The official dealer-fix will be a 4 figure 'frayed shifter cable replacement' that lexus will try to push (as seen on this forum). This problem is identical to that on the highlander Hybrids that share the same mechanical underpinnings as the 400h's on all of the forums - and the solution(s) are identical as well (as per the highlander online threads).

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